Aside from the Food Network, Cooking Channel & the endless re-runs of NCIS and SVU that play on USA every day, I don’t watch a whole lot of television.  I DVR American Idol, Biggest Loser and Glee to watch with my cousin (and BFF) when we need something mindless to watch when we get home from the gym every night at 9p.   I didn’t know it, but my cousin added the Bachelor to our DVD line up and popped it on one night while we were stuffing our faces with my famous kitchen sink salad.

I protested a little, but gave in because curiosity got the better of me.  I’ve never actually seen an episode of this show.  In order to be all Judgey McJudgerson, I needed to be educated.  Curiosity won the better of me and I watched the episode with her.  Now, I don’t consider myself a serious feminist.  I sort of consider myself a humanist, meaning it really irks me to see anyone being objectified, not given a fair shot, not being treated equally.

At first glance, each of the girls on this show are beautiful (except for that one redhead who sort of looks like a really ugly Isla Fisher).  Like, not girl next door beautiful either… jaw droppingly beautiful.  At first glance, they are the types of girls that, if I were near them, would send my insecurity through the roof.  They are the girls we all think could get any guy that they wanted.  They are the girls we all would think would never be alone.

Then I start actually WATCHING this show and i’m seething.  Girl after girl pours her heart out to a man the don’t even know in an effort to show how honest they are, how comfortable they are.  With each girl, this guy (I don’t even know his name) feigns interest and rubs the tears from their cheeks when they talk about divorcing their high school sweet heart or finding out they were pregnant a week after their fiancée dies in a fiery plain crash.   These girls really think this is real.  These girls are actually fighting over this manwhore.  I mean, I get it.  It makes for good TV.  But at what cost?

All I could think is that more than one of these girls has a daughter at home.  What the fuck kind of example is this sending to them?  Mommy doesn’t want to be bothered with dating, so let me just line up with a bunch of other girls that were picked because they were pretty too and let’s let some guy decide for me while I pour my heart out on national tv?!  Is that what fucking love has been relegated to?!  Thats what the fucking commitment of marriage has been made out to?  Let’s fight for a guy, give him this huge ego boost and then he can pick which ever one of us he wants and we’ll marry him?

All I kept thinking was that these girls have to have some serious Daddy issues or really fucking screwed up relationships in the past to lead them to believe that this type of thing is okay.  They clearly have zero self respect for themselves.  It’s just so frustrating to watch and yet, America tunes in weekly to see these girls and this asshole man make a mockery out of themselves and out of love.  I know it’s just supposed to be a show, but somethings just aren’t meant to be messed with.

What do you think?  Do you watch the Bachelor?  Why?